Shelter for Abused Deaf Women Provides Needed Safe Haven

 By Liz Jones
Seattle, Washington

ADWAS’ logo reflects support for women reaching out for help

 

In the U.S., one in four women is a victim of domestic abuse at some point in her life. More than 2000 agencies across the country help women get away from their abusers. But there’s a group of women whose calls for help have gone unanswered, until recently. The first-ever housing facility for deaf victims of domestic violence in Seattle, Washington, marks its first anniversary this August.

One of its first residents was Olivia (not her real name, for privacy reasons). She had been living with her boyfriend, but had quickly realized he was manipulative, violent and abusive. She was afraid she and her son were in danger.

It wasn’t until months later she realized all that the boy had been through. He hadn’t been physically harmed. But he knew bad things had happened.

Eventually, he had questions. “He said, ‘Did he rape you mommy?’” she says through a sign language interpreter. “And that was really hard for me to answer because he’s six years old. But I had to just take that opportunity and answer him, truthfully. And he just kind of looked at me, and he was so quiet. But I knew I probably just changed his world.”

Olivia took her son and left her ex-boyfriend, but soon realized she had nowhere to go, and no money. It’s a dilemma many abused women find themselves in. She stayed with friends for a few days. She considered leaving Seattle. But she’d just gotten her master’s degree in education and wanted to find a job in the area.

Deaf rights advocate Marilyn Smith began an organization to connect deaf women with counseling and resources more than 20 years ago

A friend suggested she contact the Seattle non-profit group, Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services, known as ADWAS. The program was started in 1986 by Marilyn Smith. Her goal was to connect deaf women with counseling and resources.

Smith, like Olivia, is deaf. She explains through an interpreter, that ADWAS was the start of a much more ambitious undertaking. “Many of our clients were going back to their batterers because they had no housing. They had no options. They had no other options that were accessible for them. So we decided we needed to fill that gap.”

Last August, Smith opened the only transitional housing in the country for deaf victims of domestic violence.

Deaf and hearing women experience the same rate of domestic violence. But Smith says it’s often more difficult for deaf women to get away from their abusers. “A hearing woman can pull up her roots and simply move somewhere else. And find a new community and be anonymous there. That’s almost impossible for a deaf woman. They want to stay where their roots are because there aren’t that many of us,” she explains.

The apartments’ open design makes it easy for people to see each other and lip-read or sign

The ADWAS housing is specifically designed for deaf women. All 19 apartments have special TTY phones that display conversations in text. Lights flash when the phone or doorbell rings. TV monitors let residents see who’s at the door. And the layout is open, so people can easily lip-read and sign to each other.

But Smith says the most important feature is that all the staff are deaf or use sign language. “That is absolutely the first imperative. Deaf victims don’t like to go into hearing programs because of the communication and isolation. It’s horribly lonely for them.”

Not being heard is something that gets Smith fired up. In 1997, she sued the Seattle police department. She wanted to improve how officers respond to domestic violence calls from deaf people. She says sometimes the deaf women’s side of the story would be stifled by the abusers who could hear.

Seattle police officer Marty Bisch hasn’t heard of specific cases like that, but admits, “I could see that happening.” The 30-year veteran has spent the last five years working in the city’s domestic violence unit. He says domestic violence calls can be some of the most dangerous. And communication in those first few minutes when police arrive is crucial. “When you’re able to speak Spanish or use a little sign language, whatever it is, something really little to make that connection, I think it really helps,” he notes.

Bisch picked up a little sign language in high school. He recalls how it helped him calm a woman who was deaf and had been threatened by domestic violence. “The big difference was, that she just relaxed,” he says. “I mean, here you have officers come in your home and start asking you questions. And you can’t really communicate with them because you can’t speak. And so when she saw that I had some knowledge of sign language, I could just see it: her whole body language and everything just relaxed more.”

Bisch isn’t a certified interpreter. He just happened to be one of the officers called to that scene. But Smith’s lawsuit pushed the department to now provide certified interpreters for any deaf person who dials 911.

The ADWAS shelter provides a safe haven for deaf women fleeing abusive relationships

Marilyn Smith’s shelter program is drawing attention nationwide. The National Association for the Deaf wants her to help launch similar housing projects in 15 other cities.

As for Olivia, she may live in her shelter apartment for up to two years. But even after she and her son move out, she plans to stay involved with ADWAS. “A lot of my therapy has really been in this place, in ADWAS. It’s amazing. It’s overwhelming to see these strong survivors, all women who have been abused. They are survivors.” And she is, too.

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2007-07-30-voa55.cfm

Deaf cornerback inspires OSU

By Tully Corcoran

The Capital-Journal

Published Thursday, July 26, 2007

Martel Van Zant

OKLAHOMA STATE

Coach — Mike Gundy, third season (11-13 overall)

Returning starters — 15 (offense 8;

defense 7).

2006 record: 7-6.

Quick kick: Oklahoma State boasts one of the Big 12’s most explosive offenses. OSU averaged 35 points per game last season and was one of two teams in the country to average 200 rushing yards and 200 passing yards per game.

2007 SCHEDULE

September — 1 At Georgia; Florida Atlantic; 14 at Troy; 22 Texas Tech; 29 Sam Houston State.

October — 6 at Texas A&M; 13 at Nebraska; 20 Kansas State.

November — 3 Texas; 10 Kansas; 17 at Baylor; 24 at Oklahoma.

SAN ANTONIO — Oklahoma State cornerback Martel Van Zant thinks OSU’s Boone Pickens Stadium is the loudest venue in the Big 12.

However — and this is important — Martel Van Zant is completely deaf.

“I can feel the vibrations in the stands,” he said through an interpreter Wednesday at Big 12 Media Days in San Antonio. “Texas, they get pretty loud down there, too. We’ll see what happens in Georgia and Nebraska.”

Van Zant is a deaf football player, which means he does a lot of guessing. The only things Van Zant has ever been able to hear are the starting guns at track meets, and those were hit-and-miss at best. He wasn’t starting on the sound, he was starting on the smoke, a decided disadvantage. Van Zant doesn’t play to the whistle, he plays until everybody else stops playing. The bonus is, he never jumps offside. The bummer is, he’s guilty of the occasional late hit.

“Sometimes it happens,” he said. “All deaf players play like that.”

Not many play major college football, however. Van Zant doesn’t know any other deaf college football players. The only one he’s ever heard of was former Nebraska All-American Kenny Walker, who was deaf since age 2.

Van Zant has been deaf since birth.

“My mom got sick when she was pregnant with me,” he said. “Chicken pox. That’s what made me go deaf.”

It took him a few years to grasp his condition. As a kid, Van Zant would see a group of kids playing and try to join.

“I noticed the kids would stop playing,” he said. “But I didn’t know why.”

He has dealt with a lot of that. And not just from kids. Growing up playing youth football, he got the sense he was a part of the team in name only.

“They weren’t trying to coach me,” he said. “They just wanted to make sure I was involved.”

It wasn’t long before everybody wanted to coach him.

Van Zant never went to deaf schools because wanted to play football and he wanted a normal education. At Tyler, Texas’ Lee High School, he recorded 21 career interceptions. He was all-East Texas. Colorado, Texas A&M, SMU, TCU and Arizona came calling. But when college coaches found out he was deaf, many of them lost interest.

“I feel like a lot of the colleges were not really discriminating, they didn’t know what to do,” he said.

Former Cowboys coach Les Miles, who has a deaf brother, did. He came with a pen, paper, and some limited sign language.

“He knew a few signs,” Van Zant said. “We wrote notes back and forth. That’s just the tendency of what deaf people have to do. I could understand what he was saying.”

Van Zant brings an interpreter everywhere he goes, from the classroom to the practice field. Hilarity ensues when coach Mike Gundy yells at Van Zant, which means he’s really yelling at Ally Lee, Van Zant’s interpreter.

“Oh, yeah, he’s really loud,” Van Zant said. “If the coach is yelling at me, Ally has to give me the signs and the expression the coach has.”

Some of Van Zant’s teammates can throw some signs back at him.

“Some of them have learned sign language,” Van Zant said. “A lot of them want to learn the cuss words first.”

Van Zant teaches them. But the relationship runs deeper than silent F-bombs.

“He’s a special guy, man,” receiver Adarius Bowman said. “Special guy. You almost forget that he’s deaf. I talk to Martel same as I’m talking to you right now. It’s been a great experience. He’s a great inspiration to our team.”

It is, in many ways, an upset that Van Zant is a starting cornerback in the Big 12. If it wasn’t the kids avoiding him or the coaches not coaching him, it was Van Zant’s own mother, Alice, impeding his football development.

“My mom didn’t want me to play football,” he said. “She was worried about me getting hit.”

People have learned to quit trying to stop him.

“Now,” he said, “they’ll let me do whatever.”

Tully Corcoran can be reached at (785) 295-5652 or tully.corcoran@cjonline.com.

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/072607/cat_186983777.shtml

Our Boy Hurt In Bicycle Accident

Written by Fookem

Dino’s son, Antonio

 

On Saturday afternoon, the outside was so calm. My boys rode the bicycles with their neighborhood friends. About 5:30 pm, his friend’s mother brought my old son, Antonio to our house with bleeding eye. My wife Carrie was getting ready for the boys to eat dinner. But she saw and took him to the emergency room which it was Northwest Community Hospital (24 hours treatment), she knew that the cut was so deep and needed to be stitched. She paged me and told me what happened. I thought it was very common for the kids to get cut by falling off their bicycles. I came in and saw him. At first thing, I asked him, “how do you feel? You ok?” He nodded his head. He held a big gauze to stop the bleeding. I asked him if it was ok for me to look at the wound. His another eye dropped a tear and nodded his head. So, I took the gauze off and took a good look at it. The picture in my imagine was wrong. I thought the cut was located on the side where the most common cut was, near eyebrow or something like that. I said to my wife Carrie “oh shit! It is a really bad one and I did not expect that area where his cut is.” Anyway, we got no interpreter but we communicated nurses by writing the paper and pen. But the other lady walked in from the other room. She said, “Hello, need an interpreter?” I said, “I remembered you because you were my boys’ interpreter at school for IEP. ” She said, “Yes, that’s right.” I asked how she knew that we were there. She chuckled and said that she heard our last name and decided to check with us to see if we need an interpreter. I asked why she was in the emergency room. She told us that she got stung by a bee but she felt ok. I told her that we didn’t need her right away because the nurse was calling the other hospital where they were going to send our son to. A few minutes later, she left. And the paramedics came. They talked to our boy and he interpretered for us. I told them to talk to us not him because he was a hurting victim.

He rode in the amblance with his mommy to the another hospital (Lutheran General Hospital). The hospital has the best service for deaf patients, they will provide an interpreter, tty, etc.. I was in disbelief situation, I mean how does it happened? You know where the cut is. My another son Mario was so upset and cried. He loved his brother so much. I told him that he will be alright, the doctors and nurses would take care of Antonio very good.

About 8:15 pm, I came back home from Northwestern Community Hospital, I put the food away, turned the television off, etc..then dropped Mario off at my parents’ house which is very close to my house. So I drove to Lutheran General Hospital and parked. Oh, before I parked my SUV, there was a gate so I had to press the button, the intercom spoke to me. I said nothing then the gate does not open so I pressed it again. The security came to me. I said I am deaf. He said ok, let me press the button for you so you can park your vehicle there. I parked and walked to emergency room. I came to the security and asked where is my son located at? He guided me to the room where he stayed.

Antonio just came out of CT SCAN and the doctor wanted to make sure if there was nothing wrong with his eyes, blah blah. The nurse brought the old fashioned TTY to our room. There was a closed caption on tv. She said she tried to page the interpreter but no luck. I told her, thats ok with us, at least communicate with us through pen and paper.

The eye doctor, Dr. Anderson, came in and gave an eye examination. She said, there is no eye ball damage, broke bone, no damage orbit, his eye vision is very good…everything looked so normal to her except the cut area. What she told me that Antonio has two cuts on the upper lid and one on the lower lid. They are very far in the inner corner and look like they both cut across the tear drainage canals. So besides repairing the lid lacerations, the tear duct should be repaired. It drains the tears out of the eye and the left might always tear if it was not repaired. Because it is a difficult repair. She found an oculoplastic specialist, Dr. Noel Saks who specializes in the lids and plastic surgery. He has checked with the Operating room and they could do it next day at 8:30 am.

‘Oh no’, Carrie said as the clock showed 10:45 pm. Why can’t they do it right now? You know how mother is. I told her not to worry because they would do a better job in the fresh morning because they wont be tired. So the time was running until 1 am. Carrie went home and I stayed with him through the night. I still can’t figure out myself. You know when you fall from the bicycle, you could get your face scratch from the sidewalk or broke nose or broke tooth or could lose the eye if right hit, you could say ‘IF’, ‘IF’ or ‘but’, ‘but’.

Fast Forward to 7:30 am, the next day, the interpreter showed up. We explained to her what happened so she won’t feel lost what was going on when the nurse talked to us. Anyway the hour past to 8:30 am, the nurse sent him to the operation room. Before he was taken by the doctor, I explained to him, what to expect, step by step so he won’t feel scared when he wakes up after the operation. Of course, he cried and he said, he was scared. It made us cry too and felt bad about him that he had to go through the difficult time. Dr. Noel Saks showed up and talked to him about the surgery. Antonio asked him, ‘How long will it takes you to finish my eye? The doctor said, it all depends on your eye as I have to take a look to see how it goes. If it is a simple job, would say around 1 to 1 1/2 hours, if not, around 3 to 4 hours. We kissed him and signed ‘I love you’. You be brave and we will wait for you.” He left. I looked at the clock, 9:05 am.

I drove back home and took a good shower. My mind was not thinking straight cuz of his eye. I came to see Mario where he stayed at my parent’s house. I asked if he wanted to come to the hospital to see his brother. He was going to cry and said “I don’t want to go. ” I told my dad, I think he was upset because he saw what happened. But my dad said he can stay and I come back. At 11:00 am, Carrie paged me that Antonio was in the recovery room and he was doing ok. So I ate my lunch quickly and went back to the hospital.

I walked in the room and shocked myself that he was still awake. I thought he would wake up a little bit later but I was wrong. So I gave him a BIG hug, I said “you man! you brave. ” He smiled and I asked; you ok? He nodded his head and I asked him, ‘Your eye hurts?’ He said no. WOW, the technology is much better than before. What more is that he does not have the big gauze to cover the wound.

Antonio sat and watched the cartoon on the television. He was very quiet. A few minutes later, Carrie told me that our interpreter was pissed off at Northwest Community Hospital that they did not provide an interpreter for us. So Carrie told her, you take care of it because we were worn out. She said ok, she left and made a phone call and explained about the situation. But she never came back, we guessed that some patients needed her. We will see her again someday.

Antonio wanted me to ask the nurse that he wants to watch the movie so I pressed the red button. It’s for nurse to come if we need her. But there has a small speaker. She asked Antonio what kind of movie he wanted to watch. He whispered, Pokemon. She said she can’t hear so he spoke little loud because he had a sore throat. I told him, “you are lucky that you have deaf parents that can’t speak.” He smiled.

A few hours later, out of blue, I tapped on Carrie’s shoulder and I told her that I missed Dr. Stern being around here. She is good at explaining with something we don’t know what it is. Or something that we need to know, she has a lot of patient if we ask her some questions to discuss. Feeling bond with her is the most important part because you know how deaf people tend. She is deaf and easy to communicate with deaf patients like us. Dr Stern, in case you are reading this….We miss you!

The nurse gave me the instruction and explained what to do with Antonio’s eye. Put the medicine on his eye, etc.. He may resume normal activity as tolerated. I was like GASP, you must be kidding because the way how bad his eye is. She laughed, yes he can. Wow, again the technology!

So, the bottom line is, we are blessed. Nothing serious about Antonio’s eye, just cut and tube. Everyone at Northwest Community Hospital and Lutheran General Hospital was supportive and caring. Also the others such as woman who was willing to interpret for us in E.R, our neighborhood, my blog partner and friend, Eric, my parents and my brother who watched our another son, Mario, while we were at hospital with Antonio. Thanks to them for the generous support. Again, we are blessed.

Me off to bed! Good night.

———————————–

Updated as 07/31/07

Deaf school criticized as numbers slide

Challenges are same confronted by any small district, administrators say 

  

Tim Nold with sons Isaac, who turns 10 on Monday, and Caleb, who is 6. They attend Hayward Elementary. Isaac, who is profoundly deaf, repeatedly has been denied admission to attend South Dakota School for the Deaf.

(Photo by Jon Walker / Argus Leader)

 By Jon Walker

jwalker@argusleader.com

Published: July 29, 2007

Two candidates for superintendent visiting the School for the Deaf last week found a campus with shrinking enrollment and tales of both happiness and frustration from families whose children don’t hear well.

A Sioux Falls institution dating to 1880, the school had more than 130 students in the 1970s, along with an energetic dormitory life and the promise of a cultural haven for children to succeed in their deafness.

The school will have only 38 children in grades K-12 this fall – with eight in high school and a curriculum forcing students to take courses elsewhere in order to graduate. Most receiving help today are not enrolled at the school, but are off-campus as specialists provide outreach services to 221 children around the state.

“The school started out as an orphanage. Over time, things change,” said Judy Bakkene, a program specialist on the staff since 1986.

But alongside changes in education and medical gains that let children hear for the first time are accounts of families feeling helpless about what they see as the school failing its mission.

Jorden Curran, who’s been taught at the school since age 2, is 14 today and about to enter ninth grade. He is deaf, autistic and losing his eyesight. He is also about to learn that he must divide his high school days between Sioux Falls and Flandreau because the deaf school does not offer algebra.

“He loves the School for the Deaf,” his mother, Deanne Curran, said from the family’s home in Flandreau. “But if he stayed there, there’s no way he’d be able to graduate to be prepared to go to college, because they won’t provide entry-level math.”

This confounds Rick Weber, the Flandreau superintendent, who now is making arrangements to teach Jorden a half-day and give him a 45-mile noon-hour ride to Sioux Falls.

“I have trouble understanding how an accredited school does not offer math to their high school students,” Weber said. “My understanding is they won’t have high school English next year,” Weber added, voicing a concern that several parents also mentioned in recent interviews.

Algebra, physics, chemistry among subjects not offered

Joel Grim, principal at the School for the Deaf since 2004, said the concerns are only partly true. English class will continue. But the algebra teacher resigned, so that offering has been dropped. The school does offer consumer math, although that class doesn’t satisfy any of the three curriculum pathways the state requires for a high school diploma.

“We are just unable to offer the algebra class at this time,” Grim said. “We don’t have an individual to teach that class. We’re such a small school, we can’t offer everything.”

Maureen Schloss, departing this summer after three years as the deaf school’s superintendent, said most high school students there are dual-enrolled, and all would need courses elsewhere to graduate.

This will be the first year without algebra, she said. The school hasn’t offered physics or chemistry in at least three years, though it does offer biology and physical science. Schloss said the deaf school, with a budget less than $4 million, is facing issues many towns face across the state.

“We’re just like Lemmon and Eagle Butte, which don’t have enough people to warrant keeping teachers in all areas,” she said. “We can’t have one teacher for one class for two students when the population is dwindling. We’re very similar to other districts in South Dakota.”

Jorden Curran’s sister, Abigail, 6, also is deaf, autistic and losing her vision. She attended kindergarten last year in Flandreau. Her parents applied in June for her to be accepted at the School for the Deaf this fall and await an answer. For now, she’s due to repeat kindergarten in Flandreau.

Weber hired a deaf educator, a $29,500 position, to assist Abigail and expects a similar cost to help Jorden in the coming year. The Flandreau district also will pick up the expense to shuttle Jorden to Sioux Falls during lunch, about $20 a day or $3,500 a year.

Tad Perry, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, said the School for the Deaf provides a service, but local districts remain responsible for a child’s education.

“Realistically, we cannot offer every class desired by every child in a high school for eight students,” Perry said. “The demographics suggest the high school will not get any larger.”

Asked whether the school would close, Perry said: “I’m not going there. We still have a service to provide. In the foreseeable future, I don’t see any change.”

Isaac Nold, who turns 10 on Monday, attended the School for the Deaf during a 45-day evaluation in 2003, then was turned away. He has a brother, Caleb, 6, who hears perfectly and wrestles with him in the living room of the family’s west Sioux Falls home. But Isaac is profoundly deaf, has cerebral palsy and a nerve disorder that keeps him from feeling pain in his face. He can swallow yogurt but otherwise is fed through a tube.

Rejected for admission because of other disability

Teresa Nold, Isaac’s mother, said the school rejected Isaac because deafness is not his primary disability.

“I thought he did great,” she said. “Other students enjoyed having him. Teachers enjoyed having him. We went in there thinking that he would actually be welcomed. We were told he wouldn’t be able to learn or would not fit in. At the evaluation, they started off with, ‘You can’t come back. This isn’t working out.’ “

Isaac was dual-enrolled at the time, also attending Hayward Elementary. He’s back now at Hayward full time.

“Hayward is great. We’re getting the things that for the most part he needs,” his mother said. “But the major thing he needs is a signing environment. I know he sees himself as different. I know he’s frustrated. He has to rely on an adult to communicate for him, while peers around him are communicating with others, joking, laughing. I know he sees that.”

She also applied for Isaac in 2000 and 2005 and was turned down. She has a file of correspondence pertaining to civil rights and fair education but doesn’t know yet whether she’ll pursue another application.

Nold said she finds it odd that a school for the deaf, a presumed advocate for deaf children, keeps her deaf child away. Her husband, Tim Nold, who is deaf, said that when he graduated from the school in 1984, many in his class of 18 had multiple disabilities. Teresa Nold, herself partly deaf, attended the school for a semester in high school before returning to Lincoln High. She said her son has a greater need for the school than she did.

Bakkene, the school’s program specialist, said she couldn’t discuss Isaac’s situation or other individual cases. But one rule guiding admission is that “the primary handicap has to be hearing loss,” she said. Success of children in their neighborhood schools such as Hayward is a sign that the system works, she said.

“If a school district is offering a good program for a youngster, that is essentially the least restrictive environment,” Bakkene said. “That’s the way it goes. The fact they’re happy with the program there is key.”

The school serves students whose personalized education plans require what the Sioux Falls campus offers.

“Most school districts don’t have a bilingual education program … and don’t have the auditory-oral program for kids with a cochlear implant,” said Schloss, who is returning to teach at Northern State University.

Some parents say school has not been responsive

Enrollment at the deaf school soared in the 1930s, ’60s and ’70s on the wing of rubella, meningitis and other diseases. Medicine improved, deafness became moderate more often, and science helped more children hear. Federal laws ushered in mandates for local schools helping children with disabilities.

“With special education, improvements in teaching and hearing aids … the least restrictive environment keeping kids in their home school has been the way things have moved,” Bakkene said.

The deaf school’s dormitory, down to six students, closed in 2005. That space now is for after-school activities, outreach offices and parent-child education. The school offers free audiolingual testing in a diagnostic clinic for South Dakotans from birth to age 21.

Michelle Foy said her daughter, Catherine, 9, has been well-served at the school. Catherine attends St. Michael Elementary in the morning and goes to the School for the Deaf in the afternoon.

Catherine has a cochlear implant and is in the deaf school’s auditory-oral curriculum, where the emphasis is on hearing and speaking, not sign language. She now talks on the phone, sings and plays a guitar.

Catherine might switch someday to the deaf school’s bilingual curriculum, where the emphasis is on American Sign Language for conversation and English for reading and writing. “Signing will always be her first language,” her mother said.

Catherine Foy has multiple health issues, including pulmonary and cardiovascular problems. She had 19 surgeries by age 2 and needs occupational and physical therapy. But hearing is her leading disability, which is her ticket to the school.

“I am pleased,” Michelle Foy said of the school’s performance, though she questioned why another mother, Teresa Nold, cannot enroll her child. “As a parent and taxpayer, I don’t think I would disagree with her. That’s too bad.”

Other parents have questioned the school’s direction, saying administrative decisions, not societal trends and medical gains, have caused enrollment to fall. School officials said layoffs at Communication Services for the Deaf, an agency on the same campus, have forced some families with deaf children to leave the state.

Julie Doucette, mother of a high school student, suspects a shift to eliminate ASL and offer only auditory-oral instruction. She suggests the school unfairly excludes some children and has an inadequate forum for parents to raise objections.

“To me, they’re oppressing the already-oppressed,” she said. “We need somebody who understands deaf culture,” another parent, Jodie Engstler, said of the administration.

Perry said he is familiar with parents who have complained.

“I’ve talked to them. They just don’t like the answers,” he said.

The school now has 22 students in the bilingual program, including all eight in high school, and 16 in auditory-oral. Demand for auditory-oral is growing, as is demand for outreach that lets children stay in home districts, Perry said. Success of cochlear implants helps drive that, and that fact hits a nerve in deaf culture.

“This is a major shift in what the deaf community has experienced,” Perry said. “The history is, if deaf, the only way to communicate has been sign language. But as technology takes over, you just shift that culture. That’s a concern to people. I understand that and am sympathetic to that.”

Reach Jon Walker at 331-2206

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070729/NEWS/707290309

Deaf sniper in Palmdale attact receives 21 years

Convicted killer fired at dealership

BY KAREN MAESHIRO, Staff Writer

LANCASTER – A deaf convicted killer was sentenced Friday to 21 years in prison for a sniper attack on sheriff’s deputies at a Lancaster car dealership last year.

Val Smith, 37, lived in an apartment within sight of the dealership where more than a dozen shots were fired the night of Jan. 6 by someone with a semiautomatic rifle.

Authorities believe the first shot was fired into the Mazda dealership showroom window to lure deputies, who arrived in force. Then, after most of the deputies left, the snipers fired at least a dozen shots at three remaining deputies, standing in the sales lot. No one was hit.

Smith was convicted in June of assault and shooting at the dealership and a car. Prosecutors at that time said they intended to try him later for shooting at the deputies after the trial of Smith’s co-defendant.

On Friday, Smith pleaded no contest to an additional count of assault on a peace officer with a firearm and was sentenced to the 21-year sentence, of which he has to serve 85 percent.

Had Smith not entered a plea Friday, he would have been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison and faced the possibility of life in prison had he been convicted in a second trial of attempting  to murder deputies.

A pretrial hearing for co-defendant Samuel Martinez, 20, is set for August. 

Smith previously served time in prison for a 1992 killing at a Van Nuys apartment.

karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com

(661) 267-5744

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_6489380?source=rss

Deaf camp winterizing and opening to the community

By Charles Agar

Name: Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing 2007 budget: $550,000 2007 expenses: $550,000 Executive director: Judith Cross Salaries (three year-round employees and summer staff): $280,000 Mission: To enrich the lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing children through superior quality recreational and educational experiences which build self-esteem, confidence and individual capabilities.

For 40 years the Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has led children ages 8 to 18 to new horizons in the mountains near Old Snowmass.

And after canceling 2006 summer sessions for a campus overhaul, organizers hope to expand to a year-round facility open to all local groups.

Reed Harris founded the Aspen Summer Camp for the Deaf in 1967 on 17 acres along Snowmass Creek Road as a place for deaf children from around the U.S. to learn about the outdoors.

In 1972, organizers changed the camp name to the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf.

“The mission has not changed, although the manner in which the mission is executed has,” said executive director Judith Cross, adding that with programs such as a high-ropes course, the camp focuses on increasing children’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

“And fun is the vehicle by which these skills are built,” Cross said.

Currently kicking off the last of three three-week summer sessions, in 2007 more than 100 deaf and hard-of-hearing kids will learn backpacking skills, whitewater rafting, horseback riding and canoeing.

A former camp board member who has a 31-year-old daughter who is deaf, Cross took over the executive position in 2006, replacing B.J. Brubaker, who was a driving force at the camp for some 22 years.

And with the change of leadership, Cross and other members of the board decided to revisit the camp’s vision, changing the camp name to Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

“First we want to do a year-round camp,” Cross said. And that means raising funds to winterize rustic camp buildings – Anderson Windows representatives recently donated 28 windows to help with three buildings, she said.

“We have had a reputation for being somewhat closed,” Cross said. “Our desire is to have this camp used.”

In 2007, programs for deaf children opened to their hearing siblings – a convenience for parents who don’t have to send their kids to separate camps – and the campus hosted separate programs for autistic children, Cross said.

With a family camp planned for October, as well as winter programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, Cross is also working with officials from the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies to host programs for area schoolchildren.

“We are truly as a camp almost as cosmopolitan as Aspen is as a community,” Cross said.

“We’re nurturing two of our assets, our children and our land,” Cross said, adding that the outdoor programs on the sprawling campus are the perfect synthesis of environmental stewardship and life experience for kids.

Community-funded

“We have people who are really loyal and wonderful to us,” Cross said.

And since the days when John Denver held an annual concert and popular picnic, the nonprofit has operated mostly on local funding, Cross said, currently matching $550,000 in annual revenues and expenses.

Camp expenses include maintenance and upgrades of some 17 buildings on campus, and salaries for three year-round staff as well as some 20 summer workers.

And Cross said the summer programs attract leagues of volunteers each year.

Tuition for summer sessions ranges from $1,200 to $1,800 depending on the camp, and there are scholarships available thanks to a $1 million endowment, Cross said.

The camp will host a barbecue and open house Aug. 4. And at $325 per ticket, supporters of the camp can attend the second annual Western Shindig Aug. 18 at the T-Lazy-7 Ranch. The fundraiser will feature live music, line dancing and a silent auction at the Maroon Bells Lodge. The two events raise more than 30 percent of the nonprofit’s annual funding, Cross said.

December 2008 will mark the 13th time camp organizers kick off the Crystal Palace dinner theater season, another major fundraiser, Cross said.

For more information, visit www.acsd.org or call (970) 923-2511.

Charles Agar’s e-mail address is cagar@aspentimes.com.

http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070729/NEWS/107290100/-1/rss02

Civil rights group files ADA lawsuits against local hospitals, restaurants

 Deaf patient claims doctors failed to provide interpreter during child birth

By BRAD DOHERTY, The Brownsville Herald

About 30 people attended a press conference in fron of VRMC, Thursday, July 26, 2007 in support of ADA law suits filed againist a local hospital and local restaurants by the South Texas Civil Rights Project.

Just over a year ago, Claudia Saldaña, who is deaf, was in pain, about to give birth and in desperate need of an interpreter to help doctors communicate with her as she went into labor.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday against Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville, she alleges doctors never called for an interpreter during her May 2, 2006, visit and that she eventually gave birth to a baby, who she named Megan, by passing written notes to doctors explaining how she felt during a cesarean section.

Abner Burnett, an attorney with South Texas Civil Rights Project, filed five lawsuits Thursday in various state district courts in Cameron County, on behalf of Saldaña and another disabled person, Federico Vasquez.

Burnett claims they were discriminated against at various businesses and hospitals in Brownsville that failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The act was passed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against the disabled and guarantees equal access to services for all Americans.

On Thursday, Saldaña talked about her experiences of discrimination on a sidewalk in front of Valley Regional Medical Center, where some 30 people gathered to rally for the lawsuits. VRMC is one of the businesses named in the lawsuit.

Saldaña alleges that when she gave birth at VRMC to her first daughter, Daisy, four years ago, staff at that hospital failed to provide her with an interpreter.

“We offer a variety of options for the hearing impaired, including utilizing employees who are able to sign. … Since the lawsuit was filed today, and we have not yet been served, we have not had an opportunity to review the details in this case,” wrote VBMC-Brownsville spokeswoman Teri Retana in a prepared statement.

The South Texas Civil Rights Project is also suing ABC Pediatrics on Saldaña’s behalf, alleging that doctors there discriminated against her and her daughters.

Dr. Yogesh Trakru, who treats the Saldaña girls, said Thursday that his clinic has tried to accommodate the family, often times trying to contact an interpreter, who had to travel from McAllen.

“We have to give them two hours notice, and then one hour travel,” he said. “When kids get sick, it happens all of a sudden.”

Saldaña’s husband, Sergio, said that at times when his wife visits the clinic or a hospital, she often doesn’t know what’s going on.

“We need to know what’s going on,” he said. “We need to know what’s happening at all time.”

On more than one occasion, the Saldañas have had mishaps with medications because there was no interpreter to explain the details, according to Sergio.

The civil rights group is also filing suit on behalf of Federico Vasquez, who is blind, against two local restaurants, Lula’s on Central Boulevard and Taqueria El Taco Loco on Old Highway 77.

Vasquez alleges that waitresses at both establishments refused to allow him to enter with his guide dog, Rookie.

The owner of Taqueria El Taco Loco, Idalia Garza, was not available for comment Thursday, according to an employee.

The daughter of the owner of Lula’s, Lourdes Lopez, said she was not aware of the ADA and that in the four years since her mother’s restaurant opened they have never had a similar incident.

“We did not know that was the law,” she said. “I guess I’ll have to start letting them in.”

Lopez said the employees at the restaurant were concerned for the safety of other patrons.

“There are kids (at the restaurant),” she said. “We thought the dog might get scared and try to attack one.”

“He’s a trained dog, he’s here to help me,” Vasquez said. “He’s my eyes.”

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/salda%c3%b1a_78742___article.html/interpreter_thursday.html

Cathy M. Rosenthal: Teach deaf dog to react to visual cues

San Antonio Express-News

Dear Cathy: My husband and I recently adopted a dog from the Animal Defense League. After we got her home, we discovered she was deaf. We are trying to house-train her but are not having great success. She goes very well when we take her out, but we are having trouble trying to get her to tell us when she wants to go out. She is 5 months old now. She is very smart, and we have become very attached to her. She is still having accidents in the house. Do you know of any local training for deaf dogs?— Sharon Melville

Dear Sharon: Sometimes shelters don’t notice when a dog is deaf because the dog is reacting to so much visual stimuli in the shelter. And that’s your No. 1 training tip here: Develop and rely on hand signals and visual cues to help her learn. Just like with a hearing dog, take her outside when she gets up from a nap, finishes a meal or starts sniffing. When you teach a hearing dog to go out, you may also say, “Do you have to go out?” The dog learns that means go outside only because you follow those words with that action. In the case of a deaf dog, you have to connect going outside with a visual cue. For example, you could put a bell on the inside door handle and paw at it yourself every time you let her out. Visually, she will make the connection between pawing the handle and going outside. Give her a treat when she begins pawing at it herself. Of course, she won’t hear the bell, only see the bell moving, but you will hear it and know she needs to go outside. I don’t know any local dog trainers who work specifically with deaf dogs, but much of dog training is based on visual cues, so most experienced trainers should be able to help you. I recommend reading the book “Living with a Deaf Dog” by Susan Cope-Becker and visiting www.deafdogs.org for more tips on how to live with and train a deaf dog.

Dear Cathy: Every summer, my granddaughter, Rachel, wants to come to my house to sew kitty comforters. We have done this for the past three years and donated them to the Humane Society. Rachel has passed along her passion for animals to her younger sister, Rheanna, who just turned 5 years old. What a wonderful role model Rachel has turned out to be. Rachel and Rheanna are so excited about sewing the comforters, and as a grandmother I’m excited for them to spend time with me doing the things they love. Because of them, the Humane Society will be getting an abundant supply of comforters by the end of summer.

— Cheryl Jones

Dear Cheryl: Let’s give you some credit for their altruism, grandma. Your grandkids are interested in helping animals because they saw you as a role model. It’s important that children learn at a young age to think and care about the welfare of animals, even if there are no pets in the home. It gets them thinking about things other than themselves, which hopefully leads to compassionate, charitable adults.

Tell Rachel and Rheanna that I am proud of them and have seen how much the cats love curling up on those special comforters.

If you can’t sew kitty quilts, but want to help animals, check out San Antonio’s Rock n Rescue — a battle of the bands that chooses opening acts to play for headliners, like “Grand Funk Railroad” and “Rare Earth,” at the AT&T Summer Concert Series. Visit www.sarocknrescue.com for details.

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Send your pet stories to Cathy M. Rosenthal, c/o Features Department, San Antonio Express-News, P.O. Box 2171, San Antonio, TX 78297-2171, or cathy@petpundit.com. Cathy’s advice column runs Sundays. Read Rosenthal’s blog, Animals MatterExpress-News publish date July 29, 2007http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/pets/stories/MYSA072907.2P.rosenthal.1e81308.html

Making the deaf heard

WorkForce Solutions addresses the need for more interpreters 

Alex Jones/The Monitor

Attorney Faye Kuo, speaks with the aid of sign language to an audience at WorkForce Solutions in Edinburg on Friday morning about the rights of the deaf in the workplace.

By Julian Cavazos

Like a lot of students, Abraham Hernandez sometimes thought class was a waste of time.

He may have been right.

“I feel that if the interpreter doesn’t show up, it’s a waste of my time,” he said in sign language through an interpreter.

“I just do my best and try to read lips.”

Hernandez is one of the 8,000 Rio Grande Valley residents who are either deaf, hard of hearing or hearing impaired. There are only 49 certified interpreters to help them communicate.

WorkForce Solutions held a seminar in McAllen on Friday addressing the need for more interpreters.

Representatives from businesses, hospitals, schools and organizations, as well as deaf individuals, attended the event.

“It makes it difficult for people to accomplish any training, employment, or doing the activities of daily living,” said Jayshree “Jay” Bhat, WorkForce disability program navigator.

“Anything requiring them to be in a public place, they lack communication.”

The seminar’s main speaker, Faye Kuo, is a deaf rights attorney for Advocacy Inc.

Kuo, who is also deaf, is one of only two attorneys for the deaf in Texas.

“I was made fun of as kind for the way I talked,” Kuo said. “I developed a passion for others to understand the need (for interpreters), and meeting that need.”

The number of interpreters has increased over the years, but still remains small.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t have that many,” said Sonia Quintero, deafness resource specialist for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. “Now we do, but we still need more.”

At The University of Texas- Pan American, a bachelors program for rehabilitation majors has been in place for about 10 years. South Texas College has no similar program available.

But those who graduate in rehabilitation and become certified aren’t staying in the Valley.

One reason is because of the low salary, said Cynthia Alaniz, a local interpreter.

“Down here in the Valley, interpreters start at a salary of about $9 an hour,” Alaniz said.

“But in places like San Antonio or Austin, you can earn $25 or $30 an hour.”

For now, interpretation agencies in the Valley are pushing recruitment efforts to alleviate the strong demand.

“Maybe provide more training with incentives to work,” Quintero said.

Julian Cavazos covers general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4474. For this and other stories, visit www.themonitor.com.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/deaf_4098___article.html/interpreters_need.html

Bad news for you…..your baby is deaf!

 

By Bug

When the doctors find out that baby is deaf. They bring the news to new parents and say ” Bad News! Your baby is deaf. Let’s contact Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AGB)….” Bad news? Their clinical view of Deaf people that always see a medical problem. Most physicians and audiologist may be able to identify deafness, but they know little or nothing about DEAF people.

If you say ” oh that’s a great news. that’s okay….” then they would think there is something wrong with you. Hearing people feel sorry because we the Deaf people do not hear. But they are the ones who are really deaf to our voices, our needs, our language, and our culture.

Imagine this….

Mother calls the baby’s name, jingles the bell, claps her hands. Then she picks up the baby, who immediately perks up, wiggling and cooing.

“My God, She’s deaf. It doesn’t even mention the other possibility, that the baby is deaf. And all I know is that my baby doesn’t hear a thing. I’ve got the worst feeling about this. Maybe it’s because my grandfather was deaf. If that beautiful baby is deaf and it’s my fault, I’ll never forgive myself “the father says.

Is that sad? Helpless father feels guilty. Guilt is an inevitable part of every parent’s reaction to having a Deaf child. “What did I do?” or ” What is wrong with me?” are predominant sentiments voiced by these parents. I think it is important for the hearing parents to ask DEAF community or DEAF professionals for help, options, or advice. We have learned much from the history of Deaf people, but hearing people continue to make oppressive decision and mistakes. Hearing people including AGB feel sorry because Deaf people do not hear. But they are the ones who are really deaf to our voices, our needs, our language, and our culture.